Kudos for Laxmi bank

KATHMANDU: Laxmi Bank has been rated as a highly secure bank by an international auditing firm named Arif Ahmed and Associates, says a press release issued by the bank today. Arif ahmed and Associates, a chartered accountants firm empanelled with the Ministry of Information Technology, government of India as Information Security Auditors, have recently completed a comprehensive audit of Laxmi Bank’s Information Technology System (IT system) and assigned the bank with a rating of A (highly secure). This bank is the first Nepali bank to have its IT system audited by an independent body. — HNS

US, S Korea FTA deal

SEOUL: South Korean and US officials expressed hope on Friday they can eventually clinch a free trade agreement, even though the lengthy negotiations will go into next year. The fourth round of talks since June ended on the southern resort island of Jeju without any breakthrough but both sides said they had narrowed differences. “Steady progress” was made in a wide range of non-sensitive areas, said the chief US negotiator Wendy Cutler.—AFP

ECB likely to raise rate

FRANKFURT: Eurozone money supply data picked up speed in September for the second month running, figures showed on Friday and analysts said this raised prospects that the European Central Bank would raise interest rates in coming months. The ECB monitors the money supply as a main indicator of future inflation, and the data published by the bank on Friday showed that the so-called M3 money supply grew by 8.5 per cent in September, after 8.2-per cent growth in August. —AFP